Natick, MA — After suffering its first loss of the season on Saturday, Wachusett bounced back in a big way, beating Natick 5-3. Senior Cody Penniman scored 1 goal and added 3 assists to bring his career point total to 99. Natick got on the scoreboard first at 10:57 of the first period, but Wachusett evened the score less than a minute later. Shorthanded 4 on 3, senior captain, Matt Brousseau won a faceoff back to Penniman who slid it acroos the blue line to sophomore defenseman Colin Carlson who ripped a snap shot off the post to tie the score at 1. That goal was the spark Wachusett needed sending the score tied to the first intermission. The Mountaineers came out on fire in the 2nd period scoring 3 unanswered goals. The first was a power play goal at 6:33 by senior captain Caden Lane. Brayden Allaire tipped a Penniman shot from the point and the puck sat on the goal line behind the goalie where Lane capitalized jamming it in the back of the net giving Wachusett a 2-1 lead. Just 3 minutes later, during a line change, Penniman stepped on the ice and gloved down a flip from a Natick defenseman, walked in alone and sniped a short side wrist shot to give Wachusett a 3-1 lead on an unassisted goal. Then, just 36 seconds later, senior Ryan Flaherty picked up the puck in the neutral zone and beat two Natick defenders before backhanding a shot to the back of the net, again unassisted. This goal gave Wachusett a 4-1 lead heading into the 2nd intermission. Flaherty would strike again just 28 seconds into the 3rd period, burying a centering pass from below the goal line from Travis Laidlaw. Penniman picked up his 3rd assist of the game on the goal. The game would remain 5-1 until the final 75 seconds of the game where Natick would score twice to pull to the 5-3 final. Sophomore goalie, Reed LaBaire, made 23 saves in his first start of the season and posted an outstanding performance between the pipes. Wachusett's defensive core played solid in the win, shutting down a heavy, physical Natick offense. Shout out to Ethan Bennett, Jake Penniman, Colin Carlson, Erik Nordahl, Patrick Vallee, Owen Ambach, Kevin O'Keefe and Colby Mills for their solid blue line play. The team is now 4 and 1 on the season and will return to the ice on Saturday, 1/3/26, to take on Grafton where Cody Penniman will look to notch his 100th career point. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm at NorthStar.